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Chocolate Stout Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting Reviews

Forget milk—stout is the perfect pairing for this cake. Serve glasses of the same brew you used in the cake batter. Take it up a notch by adding a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream to the beer for a grown-up float.

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3.5/4

I usually use a similar Epicourious recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-stout-cake-107105
I bake it in a Cathedral bundt cake mold that is available on Amazon. I then sprinkle powered sugar on the cooled cake. Looks so beautiful for Christmas, like snow on a great Cathedral. Serve with whipped cream and/or berries on the side. Beautiful and if you read the review of the cake (recipe is for a layer cake) one of the tastiest cakes on the site. I just put the right amount of batter in the bundt pan and bake at 350 till a skewer comes out clean. It makes lots of batter and the extra batter goes into cupcakes which are also very popular.

A Cook
from San Francisco Bay Area
/ 03.13.2016

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First time I made this was an experiment and I used smoked Porter and it was fabulous. I am going to make it again as sheet cakes and will probably use the same beer because the people I tested it on really liked it. Might also try chocolate Porter but the flavor might be too hidden within all the chocolate and espresso flavors. I also refrigerated it to see how it would slice (I need 150 1.5" pieces for an event so I want them to be nice and tight) and it was great cold as well and its nice texture (like in the photo) came back after it dropped to room temperature. I'll be making three batches for sheet cakes in four 9x13 pans, so I hope it works out okay. I may need to amend this review later...

kateebg
from Bend, Oregon
/ 09.08.2015

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Very chocolatey and a little hint of alcohol in my finished cake. Since it was in 9-inch tins, I lowered the temp to 325F and had no issues with dryness or doneness. It's just about like any all-butter cake in terms of dryness. I split the layers and filled with pastry cream rather than do the frosting. To me, the double chocolate oil based cake with 1K epi reviews is better. And the stout based gingerbread is totally fantastic especially with minced candied ginger and cranberries added in. That gingerbread is how I ended up with leftover stout for baking.

joaodasilva
/ 02.18.2015

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I have 2 questions-1) can I bake this in a bundt pan?
2) do you know what changes I should make for high altitude of 5000 ft.?
Thank you so much-this looks like a must!

pamelakrugman
from Loveland, Colorado
/ 03.13.2014

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Used a raspberry porter and was very, very pleased with the result. Followed the recommendation from another reviewer to add 2 tbsp of sour cream. Cake was moist, flavors fantastic.

Willaby
from New York, NY
/ 01.11.2014

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One of the best cakes I have ever made. Really nice flavor. Given all the reports of "dry" cake, I baked my cake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes and I'm glad for it. It's always easier to set the timer for a shorter period of time and leave it in if needed. I used Yeti Imperial Stout and Scharfenberger chocolate, and for the first time I tried superfine Castor Sugar. The frosting did make me nervous so I ended up adding powdered sugar as a crutch. I don't know if things would have been different in its absence. Topped this cake with raspberries.

marinahench
from Austin, TX
/ 09.02.2013

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Add 1/4 cup buttermilk and 2 TBSP sour cream to keep cake moist

hansoma2003
from NYC
/ 08.19.2013

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If folks say this cake is too dry, they are not following the recipe correctly. Probably the result of either 1) too much flour, or 2) cooking too long. WEIGH the flour to avoid packing it a cup, and CHECK the cake while it's baking. Each oven is different. I've made this cake at least 10 times, and it's always a hit. It's not a sweet cake, and most definitely for chocolate lovers.

eclecticdeb
/ 08.08.2013

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Love this cake! I made it for my wife's return from a trip, and she loved it so much she made it for me two weeks later for my birthday. The recipe is so very easy to follow, and the results are worth the work. Paired with the same Stout in the recipe, so so good. I recommend using Rogue Chocolate Stout.

shnrbrown
from San Francisco, CA
/ 07.18.2013

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I made this cake for my 19 year old sons birthday. He loves chocolate cake and he loved this one. The cake is very dense and delicious - good in every way. The icing I will change next time. I love ganache but the espresso in this recipe just took away from the deliciousness of the chocolate. It made it less sweet tasting, maybe slightly bitter. It was still good but better for me without.